Ken Ramos wrote:I will go as far as to say that in my observations of flagellates, it would depend on the organism itself. The Peranema for example moves in a smooth, steady path while swimming; whereas some smaller flagellates seem to jump around, such as Chilomonas paramecium (not to be conufused with the ciliate paramecium). C. paramecium is quite small, about 40um and has two flagella with numerous small chloroplasts and one water expelling vesicle (wev). They are usually found in putrid plant infusions.

We already noted the fact that some organism simply glide through the medium, while others have guided by two flagella (one for direction and the other for locotion. What about other genus of species, say for example the Green Algae where certain organisms (e.g. Chlamydomonas) have flagella than comparing that with the flagellates ... is there some sort of generalization in terms of the movement?

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. ~ E. B. White

Most biology text books will give a basic generalization of flagellar movement but I would not attempt to place one myself. The number of species of flagellates are so large and every form of flagellar locomotion so diverse, I really do not see how we could generalize flagellar locomotion other than to say that, "locomotion is accomplished by a whip-like extention of the organism called a flagellum." Flagellated algaes are extremely diverse also in there forms of movement and it still has not been settled if they are actually plants or animals because they exhibit the characteristics of both.

Ken Ramos, Aviation Ordnanceman USN Ret.
Western North Carolina
"If you see an explosives handler running...try to keep up with him!"
Ken's Nature Study

Most biology text books will give a basic generalization of flagellar movement but I would not attempt to place one myself. The number of species of flagellates are so large and every form of flagellar locomotion so diverse, I really do not see how we could generalize flagellar locomotion other than to say that, "locomotion is accomplished by a whip-like extention of the organism called a flagellum." Flagellated algaes are extremely diverse also in there forms of movement and it still has not been settled if they are actually plants or animals because they exhibit the characteristics of both.

lol I guess it all comes back to diversity and the fact that we can't really stick everything into some defined group ... anyways, I really appreciate all your help on this thread.

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. ~ E. B. White

I guess it all comes back to diversity and the fact that we can't really stick everything into some defined group

It is probably a good thing that we can't place everything into some defined group, we would probably loose interest in them. Look at protozoa, some exhibit the characteristics of animals, others that of animals and plants. Since no one can decide where protozoa should be classed, they have given them their own kingdom. Protista. Yet with their own kingdom, they are so diverse in species, over 50,000 known species with more being discovered every day, we may never fully understand them.

Ken Ramos, Aviation Ordnanceman USN Ret.
Western North Carolina
"If you see an explosives handler running...try to keep up with him!"
Ken's Nature Study

From comparative analysis of EST data for five taxa within the eukaryotic supergroup Amoebozoa, including two free-living amoebae (Acanthamoeba castellanii, Hartmannella vermiformis) and three slime molds (Physarum polycephalum, Hyperamoeba dachnaya and Hyperamoeba sp.), we obtained new broad-range perspectives on the evolution and biosynthetic capacity of this assemblage. Together with genome sequences for the amoebozoans Dictyostelium discoideum and Entamoeba histolytica, and including partial genome sequence available for A. castellanii, we used the EST data to identify genes that appear to be exclusive to the supergroup, and to specific clades therein. Many of these genes are likely involved in cell–cell communication or differentiation. In examining on a broad scale a number of characters that previously have been considered in simpler cross-species comparisons, typically between Dictyostelium and Entamoeba, we find that Amoebozoa as a whole exhibits striking variation in the number and distribution of biosynthetic pathways, for example, ones for certain critical stress-response molecules, including trehalose and mannitol. Finally, we report additional compelling cases of lateral gene transfer within Amoebozoa, further emphasizing that although this process has influenced genome evolution in all examined amoebozoan taxa, it has done so to a variable extent.